


It Is What It Is From Now On

by AetherBunny



Category: Hannibal (TV), The X-Files
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen, Hannibal is a Bastard, One-Sided Relationship, Scully is Du Maurier, i guess, non graphic mentions of cannonical character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-16 06:46:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/859089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AetherBunny/pseuds/AetherBunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not that Dr. Du Maurier is jaded, that's not the right word. Tired maybe, exhausted. They told her she'd be "leaving all of it behind" when they gave her a new name. She knew they were lying, but it was nice of them to pay for the other doctorate. </p>
<p>Hannibal gets attached, and Du Maurier is not in the mood. Much more about her than him.</p>
<p>This is an awful summary sorry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Is What It Is From Now On

**Author's Note:**

> Gillian Anderson missed out on playing Clarice Starling because her X-Files contract had said no other FBI Agents...

It's not that Dr. Du Maurier is jaded, that's not the right word. Tired maybe, exhausted. They told her she'd be "leaving all of it behind" when they gave her a new name. She knew they were lying, but it was nice of them to pay for the other doctorate. 

She was told she may see some "people from her old line of work" among her clients. She did. Dozens of them over the years, they just kept "mysteriously" finding their way to her practice. Although the term "people" could be used loosely. 

On numerous occasions she's even seen parasites in possession of bodies and then been left with the host in the end. They usually had some things of their own to say. She listens, nods, offers advice. She is no longer shocked or even phased by things that sit across from her, or hover, or are just a feeling in the room.

She still made them schedule of course.

The first time she meets Dr. Lecter she can see the inhumanity in him like an ink spill all over his pristine human facade. This is a bad one, she thinks, but there are no tell-tale signs of something else piloting his body. His evil is all his own and those are the worst.

She learns just enough about him, what he chooses to share is revealing in and of itself. She isn't surprised when he disregards her "retirement" and she can't muster annoyance in response.

"Interesting statues outside, one does not often see vulpine sentinels." He says the first time he has a session at her home.

"Lions are cliche, I never liked gargoyles, and we're not here to talk about me."

He gives her a thin smile, just a quirk of his lips before playing along. She does have a serious talk at him when he brings her a small bronze fox.

"For your desk, you seem to like them" he gives her a sly look. She wants to keep Hannibal out of those still pleasant places in her mind, but his determination is laid out plain.

Heaven knows why he's so attached to her, and like everything else about her current practice she'd prefer not to think about it too hard.

She knows better than to react when Hannibal reads her the name of his latest referral. She just grits her teeth, tells him fine, and has nightmares later. 

Where and how he found Pfaster she'll never know.

He hardly seems to have aged since she's seen him last, or maybe she's just projecting. She doesn't care, but she can't help the relieved look when the paramedics pronounce him dead on her floor. Eyes bulging, lips blue, tongue down his throat. Hannibal offers her a smile and a tilt of his head, it makes her feel like an injured animal about to be put out of it's misery. 

He continues to see her of course. They don't dance around one another, they just know the context of their relationship. He offers to have her over, cook for her. She declines, his persistence is a red flag, but for what she doesn't know yet.  
She does not believe Hannibal loves like humans do, but she does not believe it's vanity to say he's trying to woo her in some way.

Except he brings madness instead of flowers.

She's relieved to hear of Will Graham, she hopes Hannibal has moved on, found something new for his fixation. Relief turns to repulsion when it becomes clear this poor man has become a pet project.

"Pure empathy."

She would like very much to meet Will outside of any professional sphere. She can't help him, no one can. She just wants to experience something beautiful again. One can still appreciate the pattern on broken china.

She does not get Will instead she meets Jack, just another man doing his job the best he can. He has questions of course. About her patient, about Hannibal. She has been in his shoes, but there are things she can't tell him. This whole thing has become very complicated, but she's not sure what she expected.

The night Hannibal brings her food something changes. It's not reciprocation and certainly not approval. If there is a word for it she doesn't know, but she's felt it before. Acceptance perhaps, like the first time she entered that infamous office and was met with a boyish grin and a warm hand.

She misses him so hard it hurts, but it is what it is from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if my "Files" knowledge makes any of this totally impossible.


End file.
